There are many conventional construction systems used for residential and light commercial building projects which employ sheathing over wood and/or light-gage steel frames combined with insulation and exterior cladding components. Generally, these construction systems, while widely used, are known to have various limitations, including, allowing moisture penetration, thermal bridging, air infiltration, being subject to decay, mold and mildew, infestation, vulnerability to fire, and/or time consuming and labor intensive or expensive construction methods. In addition to the many conventional construction systems noted above other construction techniques use exterior walls composed of concrete or a lightweight concrete variant known as Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC). While existing AAC construction methods can ameliorate some of these limitations seen in conventional building materials and construction methods, the construction field generally still searches for answers to a number of persistent limitations.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,667, to Cottier et al. disclose a process for constructing a wall that includes the steps of erecting a rigid frame and attaching fiber reinforced cementitious sheets to the front and rear faces of the frame to form a void there between. This void is then filled with lightweight aggregate concrete slurry and allowed to cure. The lightweight aggregate slurry to fill the void formed between the sheets may be of conventional composition and can incorporate pulverized scrap polystyrene foam material (“grist”) or expanded polystyrene beads. The cementitious sheets may comprise an autoclaved cured reaction product of metakaolin, Portland cement, crystalline siliceous material and water. U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,710, to Terry discloses a solid monolithic concrete insulated wall system comprising 100% concrete construction on interior walls and exterior walls of buildings. Building materials consist of conventional concrete which is poured inside a cavity between two stay in place forming walls completely around the perimeter of the building. A highly cellular, lightweight material from quartzite, lime and water, known as Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is used as a “stay in place” forming system of the exterior walls and interior walls. Two AAC walls run the entire perimeter of the respective building. The two walls are designed to form a cavity in which the concrete is poured. Anchor bolts, which are bolted deep into each side of the walls, hang into the cavity. For insulation purposes two sheets of foil backed insulation are attached to the inside of the outside wall by the anchor bolts. U.S. Pat. No. 7,204,060, to Hunt discloses a system for manufacturing structures using AAC. The first step is construction of the wall system, which comprises a first course of elongated AAC base blocks for placement on a pre-built foundation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,676, to Ickes discloses a modular building wall unit comprising a hard foam layer and a concrete layer intimately bonded to each other along an interface between the layers. A reinforcing wire mesh matt is embedded in the hard foam layer and reaches with anchoring elements into the concrete layer which may also have embedded therein a further wire mesh matt. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2008/0016803, to Bathon et al. disclose a wood concrete composite system that comprises a wood construction component, an intermediate layer and a concrete construction unit. A single intermediate layer consists, for example, of a plastic foil, an impregnated paper, a bitumen pasteboard, a plastic insulating layer, a mineral insulating layer, an organic insulation material, a regenerating insulating material and up-poured and/or applied materials, which tie and/or harden at a later time, e.g., tar, adhesive, plastic mixtures. The range of types of concrete suitable for the concrete construction unit includes aerated concrete. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2007/0062151, to Smith discloses a composite building panel which includes a frame and a concrete slab made of aerated concrete. Fastened to the frame members is a reinforcing layer. The frame is oriented towards the interior side of the structure and the concrete slab is oriented towards the exterior side of the structure. The exposed frame provides cavities for the installation of plumbing, electrical wiring and insulation. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2008/0010920, to Andersen discloses a method of building construction wherein blocks and panels made from autoclaved aerated concrete are used as structural elements, including insulated panels having a rigid polyurethane/polyiscocyanurate foam core, are attached to structural elements via metal anchoring clips. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/0284100, to Ashuah et al. disclose a wall section having a sandwich like structure, which includes an external vertical panel and an internal vertical panel spaced apart in a parallel relationship, further including a vertical insulating layer. The external panel may be constructed of building blocks made of concrete or AAC. The internal panel may be constructed of wood panel. Between the panels there is a space, “core” which includes a vertical layer of concrete. The outer surface of the external panel is covered with a coating layer constructed of materials selected from among a group comprising of stone, marble, mortar, wood, aluminum, glass, porcelain and ceramics. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2001/0045070, to Hunt, discloses autoclaved aerated concrete panels, and method of making and using such panels, specifically for the construction of residential homes. U.S. Pat. No. 8,240,103, to Riepe, discloses a composite construction system and a method of constructing a wall that incorporates AAC blocks married to a building frame with a plurality of connection devices. The AAC blocks are joined one to the next with thin-bed mortar. The cavity between the frame and the AAC blocks is injected with structural insulating foam such that a layer (or a fill) of foam is formed in place once expanded and cured. And the exterior of the AAC walls are finished with waterproof cementitious stucco finish. Riepe describes a plurality of connection devices having projections (i.e., stubs) that engage grooves in the tops and bottoms of the AAC blocks. Individual connection devices are attached directly and non-slidingly fixed (e.g., with screws) to the exterior surface of the building's framing in level horizontally orientated rows corresponding to the grooves in the tops and bottoms of the AAC blocks. Each member of the building's framing may have from 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, or more, connection devices fixedly attached thereto. The U.S. Pat. No. 8,240,103 patent is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
There have been a number of advances in the field of construction materials and construction systems as demonstrated by use of AAC blocks and connection devices described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,240,103 patent. Nevertheless, what is needed are wall construction systems and materials suitable for residential, commercial, and other construction projects that substantially ameliorate at least some of the disadvantages of existing conventional and/or AAC construction techniques such as reducing labor requirements during construction and/or other installation requirements. It is contemplated that labor savings during construction and installation will reduce total costs and allow for greater building efficiencies to be realized.